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Thailand news, politics, business, crime, lifestyle, and tourism—stay updated with breaking news and in-depth analysis from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond.
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Sponsored Planning to extend your Thai visa? Why health insurance is more important than ever
If you plan to stay longer in Thailand, having health insurance is now more important than ever. Thai immigration often asks for proof of medical coverage when you apply to extend your visa. This applies to many types of visas,...
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Thai PC and notebook sales set to increase 5% in second half of year
The market for personal computers and notebook computer will grow around 4.7% in the second half of this year, as students, gaming and e-sports continue to drive growth The prediction from marketing director at Acer Computer, Nitipat Praweenwongwuthi. Acer recently conducted a survey into the needs of computer users and found that about 50% of customers who purchase gaming computers will…
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Police arrest Nigerian over Phuket-based ‘Nigerian Romance Scam’
A 38 year old Nigerian alleged ‘romance scammer’ has been arrested in Bangkok for allegedly operating bank accounts and arranging money transactions. The unnamed man was operating out of Phuket. The suspect is now being returned to Phuket, where an arrest warrant was issued on July 9 charging the man with conspiracy to commit fraud. Immigration Police Bureau chief Pol…
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Builders of Laos dam say they’re not responsible for lack of flow in Mekong River
Both the government of Laos and the builders of the Xayaburi dam are dismissing allegations that damming of the Mekong River, for the trial run of electricity generators, is one of the reasons for the sharp drop of water levels in the downstream stretches of the Mekong River. Water levels in the reservoir, 30 metres above the river, is about…
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Police receive reports of Ponzi scene affecting 200 on Koh Samui
PHOTO: Manager Online 200 Thai wives of foreigners have reportedly lost up to 120 million baht in a Ponze scheme on Koh Samui. A group of 20 affected victims were represented by ‘Praew’ who reported to the Bophut Police Station to register a formal complaint. Bophut Police are trying to interview 30 victims each day since the complaint was registered…
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Security tight for the first day of the new Thai parliament
FILE PHOTO Security is tight around Bangkok’s TOT building for today’s first sitting of the new Thai parliament. Four companies of policemen from the Metropolitan Police Division 2, police dogs and officers from the Thung Song Hong police station have been stationed at the HQ of the TOT, the venue for today’s government policy debate. Explosive ordnance disposal police backed…
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Lost Leopard Cat kitten being cared by Phang Nga wildlife officials
The small leopard cat kitten, found near a rubber plantation, is doing well and being cared for by Phang Nga wildlife nursery staff. It is not known what happened to the kitten’s mother. It was rescued on Monday near a rubber plantation in Krabi province by a Ban Pho Riang resident. The surprised passerby who found the the kitten fetched called officials at…
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32 year old charged with attempted murder after Egyptian tourist stabbed in neck in Phuket
Sanook News is reporting further details after an 30 year old Egyptian, the son of an Ambassador, was struck in the neck by a roti seller who thought that the tourist was swearing at his wife. 32 year old Surachai from Koh Lanta, who was helping his wife sell rotis outside a Family Mart in Chalong’s Soi Ta-iad, grabbed a big…
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Thai police impersonator arrested in Bangkok
PHOTOS: Daily News A 41 year old man has been arrested in Bangkok for impersonating a policeman, claiming to know the Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police and extorting people. Sayan Pimpatan has been arrested, and a police uniform (with the rank of senior sergeant major), a 9mm gun, ammunition and a car, seized. The arrest follows complaints about a man impersonating…
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Resort used by Palang Pracharat over weekend may be on encroached land
PHOTO: 88 Garmonte Resort, Nakhon Ratchasima – Foursquare Thailand’s Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation is mulling the demolition of a venue where Palang Pracharat held a seminar at the weekend. The party has come under fire from opposition MPs about using the forest resort which has allegedly encroached on forest land. Located in Wang Nam Khieo district in…
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Road incidents still the biggest killer in Thailand
“A third of the victims were men and most were between the ages of 15 and 24.” Road accidents in Thailand accounted for 20,169 deaths last year. Most of those killed were students and young people. The figures are from the Public Health Ministry, the Royal Thai Police and Road Accident Victims Protection. Motorcycles accounted for 70% of the fatal crashes, followed…
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Phuket’s roti knife attack victim identified as Ambassador’s son
PHOTO: เสียงประชาชน คนภูเก็ต Phuket People’s Voice The Egyptian tourist slashed by a roti seller in Chalong’s Soi Ta-iad over the weekend, has been identified as the son of the Egyptian Ambassador in Uruguay. The incident occurred on July 19, when a man from Koh Lanta, 32 year old Surachai Raksap, attacked an Egyptian man with a knife in front of a…
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Tanks rolling into Bangkok today but not a coup! – Army
The tanks and army trucks are rolling into the capital today. But the Army’s Public Relations Division says it’s nothing to worry about, they’re just getting ready for celebrations for HM The King’s birthday this Sunday. They’ve said there is no need for alarm at the sight of processions of arms, troops and vehicles into Bangkok today. Soldiers, weaponry and…
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80 opposition MPs ready to go to battle with ‘newbie’ Thai PM
He’s never spoken in a Thai parliament. He’s never been leader of an elected government. He’s never had to do much debating or political negotiations. But he’s the Prime Minster of Thailand and he faces up to the new parliament tomorrow and Friday for the first two days of debate. All eyes will be in the PM to see how…
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Bangkok council to raise fines for motorbike footpath riders
Bangkok’s deputy governor says he has received approval from the BMA (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration) to raise fines imposed on motorcyclists caught driving on Bangkok’s sidewalks from 1,000 to 2,000 baht, starting next month. He said he was unhappy that a number of motorcyclists are still using the city’s footpaths as shortcuts, despite the existing 1,000 baht fine. The BMA says…
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Businessman files petition against 29 officials and police
PHOTO: เรื่องจริงผ่านเลนส์.com (The Thuth by lens) The owner of owner of P.S.O. Import (Thailand), 75 year old Prasert Pimpaporn, has petitioned Crime Suppression Division police to take action against 29 army soldiers, police and officials. Prasert was accompanied by lawyer Ananchai Chaiyadet to file the petition with the investigation chief of CSD Division 5 accusing the officials of allegedly filing false…
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Morning fire in Patong destroys workers camp
PHOTOS: Newshawk Phuket At about 9 am this morning, a fire started at a construction workers’ camp in Patong, destroying about 18 units. Both Burmese and Thai workers were living in the camp. There was no one at the camp at the time as they’d all headed off to work for the day. The camp is located on Sai Kor…
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“Worst in ten years” – Chiang Mai hotels
Hoteliers and business in Thailand’s main tourist areas continue to be at odds with the official narrative trotted out by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. This time hoteliers in Chiang Mai are reporting tourism in Thailand’s north is the worst in ten years at the moment. A report in ThaiVisa says that bookings are 40% down when compared to the…
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A year after the Laos dam collapse homeless survivors wait for help
PHOTO: World Rainforest Movement A year ago, a dam at the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy hydroelectric project in southern Laos collapsed under pressure of rising monsoon waters, sending floods downstream and killing over 70 people, though the official toll is lower. 12 months on, thousands are still waiting in temporary camps in the impoverished state. A report by International Rivers…
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House speaker warns MPs to behave when new Thai parliament sits tomorrow
PHOTO: “Behave!” – House Speaker Chuan Leekpai – Thai PBS The first sitting of the new parliament will be tomorrow (Thursday) when the coalition government, led by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, will lay out the policies of the government. And MPs are being warned to behave ahead of time. Members of parliament are being warned by the speaker of the house…
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Worries over drug-resistant Malaria strains spreading from Cambodia
Drug-resistant forms of malaria-causing parasites are spreading across south east Asia leading to “alarmingly high” treatment failure rates of frontline medication. Scientists say that a strain of Malaria, known as KEL1/PLA1, has evolved and picked up new genetic mutations which may make it more resistant to drugs. They are warning that strains of malaria, resistant to two key anti-malarial medicines, are…
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Fake goods valued at 11 million baht go up in smoke in Chiang Rai
Chiang Rai Province’s Customs Department in Mae Sai has incinerated illegal and fake items valued at over 11 million baht. The illegal items are goods that “do not follow the customs law of Thailand”, aka. fakes and brand copies. Most of the items were seized from the Thai-Burmese Border Gate in Mae Sai. The illegal goods were gathered and burned at…
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Thailand’s taxi and tuk tuk scams and annoyances
“Where are you going?”, they shout from across the road. A Tuk Tuk driver wants to help you get to your next destination but the willing smile and lure of a ride in a local jalopy may have switched off your trusty scam-detector. Tuk Tuks and taxis, and the motorbike taxis too, are a convenient, safe and reasonably cheap way…
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Thai military under fire over alleged torture of a man in Pattani
PHOTO: Pattani United Liberation Organisation president Mr. Kasturi Mahkota An apparently healthy man, taken to a military camp in the Thai southern province of Pattani for interrogation on Sunday night, has ended up in the provincial hospital’s intensive care unit with brain swelling. The Pattani United Liberation Organisation is condemning the Thai military over the incident. Kasturi Mahkota, PULO president,…
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Thai workers killed in van crash in South Korea
PHOTO: Thaikuknews Two Thai citizens have been killed in South Korea after their passenger van carrying 16 people skidded off a mountain road heading to a farm. The Korean Times reports that the two Thais, the van driver and another passenger were seriously injured after the van crashed through a guard rail. Nine other people, of mixed nationalities, were in the…
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Chiang Mai airport threatens to sue Grab car driver
PHOTO: Chiang Mai Airport surveillance camera “The Airport Director claims that security staff were only doing their job and that Grab cars were not currently registered as public transport vehicles.” Chiang Mai airport officials are denying a Grab car driver’s claims that officials attacked him and say counter-charges will be filed against the man. Workpoint News report that 39 year…
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Thai Government to focus on EEC projects to propel economy
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha will unveil his new government’s policy statement in Parliament when it sits formally on Thursday. Leaks to the media indicate his 12 ‘urgent’ and 12 ‘long-term’ policies will help Thailand step up to “developed-nation status” with many of the policies focussing on the Eastern Economic Corridor project. Among the urgent policies, the sixth calls for a “future-proof”…
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Spanish tourist found after missing on Sunday night in Koh Samui mountains
Missing Spanish tourist, 57 year old Luis Cabello Ortega, has been found on Koh Samui. Island deputy police spokesman Pol. Col. Kritsana Pattanacharoen says Luis, who was lost in the forest of Na Muang Mountain on Koh Samui, has been found safe and well by villagers who returned him to his hotel in Tambon Borput. Luis says he enjoyed the…
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Queen Mother, HM Queen Sirikit, recovering in Chulalongkorn Hospital Bangkok
Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, the Queen Mother, has been admitted to the Chulalongkorn Hospital in Bangkok after developing a fever and persistent cough. The Bureau of the Royal Household made the announcement yesterday about her admission on Sunday night. Medical checks and tests showed an infection of the respiratory tract and she was advised by doctors to remain in the…
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Pattaya tourist slump – visitors leaking to Vietnam
The new Minister of tourism and sports says tourism in Thailand is up nearly 1% (0.89% to be precise) in June year compared to last year. But as ministers bicker over the numbers – up or down – other business leaders says that tourism on the ground in Pattaya is much worse than the figures suggest. According to ThaiVisa, the “outlook…
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A proposal for Greater Bangkok’s fourth airport
PHOTO: Thailand Construction A new airport in Bangkok’s Nakhon Pathom province, just to the west of the capital, will be greater-Bangkok’s fourth air travel hub. The announcement was made on Saturday. Jarun Meesomboon, deputy director-general of the Airport Department, says the new 3,500 rai airport was a priority for the new Transport Ministry. He optimistically claimed it would cost only…
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